Regional Data Dashboard for COVID-19 Response Funds:
Grantmaking Analytics

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

An atlas of COVID-19 era need and philanthropic response for the Southeastern Pennsylvania/Southern New Jersey region

July 2020


The maps on this site are part of the Regional Data Dashboard for COVID-19 Response Fund hosted at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy to chronicle philanthropic efforts to battle COVID-19 in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey.

This report provides strategic planning intelligence to philanthropies making placed-based investments in the wake of COVID-19. The goal is to understand where the supply of resources are aligned with the demand for those resources, and where they are not. Philanthropies can then use this intelligence to plan future investments.

This report is part of a larger effort to chronicle philanthropic efforts to battle COVID-19 in the Delaware Valley Region.

Organizations in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania applied for 3510 grants. These grants totalled $18,715,047.

The organizational mission that saw the greatest number of grants in Philadelphia County, was Economic Activity, which received $10,296,954. 93% of Philadelphia County Census tracts were awarded funding.

The next section provides additional grantmaking analytics. Section 2 visualizes a series of grantmaking planning overlay maps intended to help philanthropies working in Philadelphia County identify areas where need currently outweighs grant resources. The remaining sections include additional analytics. Worth noting is the Employment section, which visualizes the geography of COVID-related unemployment.

1. Grantmaking

The maps throughout this report contain grants georeferenced in two ways. Some grants are referenced by the Service Area where resources were expended. Other grants were referenced by the address of the Organizations or Individuals who received grants. We have tried to label analytics in this section to convey these differences.

Figures 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 are based on grants geocded to the center of the service area. Figures 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7 illustrate grants geocoded to the location of the organization or individual who received the grant.

1.1 What service areas are receiving more grants?

1.2 What service areas are awarded grants by organizational mission?

1.3 Where are organizations who are receiving grants located?

1.4 Where are individuals who are receiving grants located?

1.5 Breakdown of organization grants by funder

This plot has temporarily been redacted until further consideration by the funds whose data is represented here.

1.6 How much funding was allocated by mission and by fund?

This plot has temporarily been redacted until further consideration by the funds whose data is represented here.

2. Strategic Planning Overlays

The goal of these map overlays is to help stakeholders understand if resources are being allocated where they are needed most. Philanthropies should consider targeting future investment in places where relative need exceeds grantmaking. The overlays visualize grant data by the service area.

Housing instability and social vulnerability indices define the geography of need in Philadelphia County. Housing instability is a composite that describes the number of renters, the number of renters paying more than 30% of their income on rent (ie. ‘rent burdened’), and the current tract-level unemployment rate.1

Social vulnerability is a composite of rent burdened households, single-parent households, tract-level poverty rate, percent receiving SNAP benefits, and percent without health insurance. Below, need and grantmaking are visualized side-by-side and with cartographic overlays. Again, these overlays highlight areas where more investment may be needed.

These are relative measures for Philadelphia County only, which received $18,715,047 across 3510 grants. All grants used for this section are georeferenced to the Service Area where resources were expended.

2.1 Social vulnerability & grantmaking maps

2.2 Social vulnerability & grantmaking overlay

Census tracts visualized in darker blue, are those where relative social vulnerability is greater than relative grantmaking. Shades of white indicate better balance between relative need and grantmaking. Darker shades of red are places where there is more relative grantmaking compared to need. Perform this analysis on your are of interest using the Strategic Planning Tool.

2.3 Housing instability & grantmaking maps

2.4 Housing instability & grantmaking overlay

Again, Census tracts visualized in darker blue, are those where relative housing instability is greater than relative grantmaking. Shades of white indicate better balance between relative need and grantmaking. Darker shades of red are places where there is more relative grantmaking compared to need. Perform this analysis on your are of interest using the Strategic Planning Tool

3. Housing

With respect to housing in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average tract-level median rent is $884.93. The average rate of owner occupied housing is 52%. In 53% of tracts, at least half of households are rent burdened.

The maps below provide a detailed look at housing in Philadelphia County.

3.1 Where do rent burdened households live?

Rent burdened households are those spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The map below visualizes percent rent burdened by tract.

3.2 Where are owner-occupied households concentrated?

3.3 How does rent vary across Philadelphia County?

3.4 Where do renters rely on alternative travel mode choices?

3.5 Philadelphia County transit deserts

The map below visualizes the distance in miles from each tract to its nearest transit station.

4. Demographics

In Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average median household income is $47,226.65 and the average population density is 19,584 people per square mile. The mean poverty rate is 25%, with the highest poverty rate, areawide, being 82%.

Below a host of demographic-related maps are presented.

4.1 How does population density vary across Philadelphia County?

4.2 Median Household Income

4.3 Poverty-rate across Philadelphia County

4.4 Percent non-white households

4.5 Individuals aged 65+

4.6 Individuals aged under 18

4.7 Children under age 6

4.8 Access to childcare

The map below visualizes the distance in miles from each tract to its nearest childcare center.

5. Employment

In this section, labor force participation is visualized along with recent changes that have resulted from COVID-19.

The average rate of individuals who have attained at least a high school degree in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania is 84%. In 2015, the Census estimated that 727,819 individuals were employed, which represents 71% of adults. As of mid May, 2020, the estimated average tract-level unemployment rate was 11% meaning an estimated 73,062 fewer individuals were employed at that time.

The geography of COVID-19 unemployment is explored further below.

5.1 Education attainment: High school degree and higher

5.2 Total labor force

5.3 Where do workers live by sector (2018)

Using Census LODES data, the below set of maps show where Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania workers in select sectors live.

5.4 Estimated unemployment by sector

Combining tract-level employment counts from Census LODES with tract-level unemployment estimates from the BLS allows estimates for where employment-vulnerable workers live in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

6. Food Insecurity

In Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average rate of households receiving food assistance is 26%. The average rate of households with children receiving food assistance areawide is 11%.

Below, food insecurity and food access in Philadelphia County is mapped.

6.1 Where do households receive food assistance?

6.2 Where do households with children receive food assistance?

6.3 Philadelphia County food deserts

The map below visualizes the rate of low income households who live more than 1/2 mile from a supermarket in urban areas and more than 10 miles in rural areas.

7. Health

The average health insured rate for households in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania is 99%. The average rate of disabled residents is 16%.

Several health-related indicators are mapped below.

7.1 Rate of health insured

7.2 Rate of disabled

7.3 Emergency health access

The map below shows the distance in miles from each Census tract to its nearest emergency care facility.

7.4 Access to urgent care

The map below measures distance in miles from each Census tract to its nearest urgent care facility.



This work was supported by Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia and the William Penn Foundation and created by the below entities.


  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Census LODES; created by applying Urban Institute neighborhood job loss estimates to Census LODES data. More information here